Episode of Moyers & Company

This week on Moyers & Company, two Americans fighting the good fight against greed and corruption (check local listings). First, David Simon, former crime reporter and creator of the TV series The Wire and Treme, talks with Bill Moyers about the triumph of capital over democracy. "... if it's just about generating mass wealth, then you know, what are we saying?" he asks Moyers. "What are we saying about the human condition? What are saying about our society's condition?" Simon believes that to find a solution, "You have to do it legislatively. [But] how do you do that when your legislative aspect has been completely purchased by the very capital that's being amassed?" One possibility? "If I could concentrate and focus on one thing and hope that by breaking the cycle you might start to walk the nightmare back, it would be campaign finance reform." Enter constitutional scholar and activist Lawrence Lessig, who last month led a two-week trek through the winter cold from north to south down 185 miles of streets and roads in New Hampshire - traditionally, the site of the nation's first presidential primary. The march was to raise awareness of the need for campaign finance reform. Lessig's movement, NH Rebellion, is encouraging voters to ask all the presidential candidates who soon will be haunting New Hampshire: How are you going to end the system of corruption in Washington? "We've been looking for a long time for the kind of action that people had to pay attention to, they had to look at, they had to see, they had to think about," Lessig said. "We're hopeful that if people see people trudging through the sleet and the rain and the snow in New Hampshire in January, they'll stop and say, 'Why? Why would you do that? What's the purpose? What's the issue?' And as they think about it they'll be reminded that they, too, care about this issue."